Brandon's first cereal

The doctor cleared us to start on real food today. Here's Brandon's
first taste of cereal!

What a fun 4th!

We had a great 4th with many visitors/helpers around. Grandmom Deb, Charlie, Uncle Brad, Aunt Alyssa and Aunt Nancy all came from sunny Florida to rainy Indy to celebrate. Also, Aunt Jaime, Uncle Stan, The Pugs Millie and Gertie, and Cousin Mara came from Chicago. Don't worry, they did not all stay with us... just most of them :-) We are sad to see all the help go... we love having our family around. Plus, Grandmom Deb did ALL our laundry, and that is a lot!

Alex Bear loves Aunt Nancy.

Grandmom Deb and a semi-naked Brandon.

Aunt Jaime and Lila are pretty in pink.

Cousin Mara and Alex Bear.

Uncle Brad and Alex snuggling. Looks like Alex got held the most... probably because he spits up the least.

Oh, and there were cupcakes. I have been getting a lot of questions about the cupcakes and how I find the time. All I can say is I find it completing relaxing and a good way for me to wind down. Typically the cupcakes are baked, frosted and decorated on separate nights by a tired Mommy after the trips are down for the night. Anyhow, I have a nice burn on my arm from this last batch. Ouch.

Alex and his toy

All the babies are getting good at holding things. Here's Alex trying
to make a snack out of his toy ;-)

Working toward crawling

Lila has mastered the crawling pose... next, locomotion. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Are babies supposed to be doing this so young??

New video

I succumbed to the iPhone craze yesterday, so I'm testing out the video function. Hope this works!

3 Little Personalities

You have come to know them as the Perry Triplets, but even at 5 and a half months they are 3 very different babies. I thought I would take the time to let you know a little bit about each one.

Lila Joy - AKA Lila Bean, The Bean, Lila Jean, The Princess, The Diva, The Drama Queen. Lila loves to laugh. She thinks the song "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys is the funniest thing she has ever heard. Especially when Mommy sings it. She loves Daddy and already has him wrapped around her little finger. She like to get fussy between 8 and 9 at night and the only thing that will calm her down is laying on Daddy's lap. She has the cutest little nose we have ever seen, and we think she looks like a little doll.

Brandon Nathaniel - AKA. Brandon Boo, Brando, B-Dog, B-Dog Millionaire, the Great Brandino. He is the silliest of all the babies. He has the funniest little crooked smile. He has the longest eyelashes we have ever seen on a baby and a full head of spiky hair to match. He loves to eat and NEVER misses a feeding. We joke that if he had teeth he'd be eating cheeseburgers. He's gone from the littlest at birth to our giant baby. Seriously, he looks like a toddler. Brandon has a special little sparkle in his eye that makes you think that -- just maybe -- he's up to no good.

Alexander Jude - AKA Ali, Alex Bear, Alexander Salamander, Ali Baba, Baby Genius. Alex is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet. He is sweet as can be and rarely fusses. He loves to cuddle. And, if I hear Alex cry then I know something is really wrong because he so rarely does it. He loves sucking his thumb and getting a peek at the TV when he can. He is the first around here to do things like roll over. His sweet little smile melts my heart.

Star power

I have about 15 of MJ's hits on my iPod, and I'm committed to listening to all of them this afternoon. As a child of the 80's, his passing is particularly saddening. I really only mention it on this blog because one of the things I was thinking this morning was: will our kids ever, ever, see someone rise to the stratosphere of stardom like Michael did? I mean, his popularity in the early to mid-80's was just beyond ridiculous.

I was 5 when Thriller came out. My brother Scott had it on vinyl, and I had it on tape. At some point in the 90's, I bought it on CD. Every single kid wanted to be MJ... black, white, it didn't matter. Will our kids will ever be part of such global adoration? I doubt it. The entertainment options today are already too many. Radio doesn't have the power it once did; MTV doesn't play videos any more. The Internet shines too bright a light on celebrities' lives. There's no wall between them and us; no longer any way to create the kind of mystique that someone like MJ had. No, I doubt Alex, Brandon or Lila will ever experience anything like us 80's kids did. It was fun, wasn't it?

The guy had his issues, and he made some bad decisions. No doubt about it. The worst of the allegations never seemed legit to me, but he sure didn't do much to help his cause, with the choices he made. But I'm not a psychologist or a judge, I'm just a guy who looks back fondly upon the soundtrack of his childhood. I'm just a guy who -- and I am not making this up -- tried to learn to moonwalk last year, by watching instructional videos on YouTube (I wasn't successful, but I can show you the mechanics sometime if you're curious.)

Our kids are growing up in such a different world than we did. But maybe it's good that they'll never see someone like MJ. Maybe that much star power is just destined to consume the one who wields it.

Be free, Michael.

Don't worry, we'll keep listening.

But they told me a man should be faithful,

and walk when not able,

and fight till the end,

but I'm only human.

--Will You Be There